you def do not have agood situation there with the MLW slipping. its going to be hard to troubleshoot without seing any pics of it, but are you sure the webbing is routed correctly? did you inspect the metal hardware to see if there is any damage or wear on it. i would recommend that you dont jump it until you got to the bottom of this,what if it slips more than 2" the next time? i am not sure what washing it in warm water would achieve? is there any rigger on your DZ that can have a look? I would also email UPT about this straight away and get there input. send them all the details you can as to rig no and date of manufacture, how many jumps are on it ETC. if you could post a couple pics of the MLW and hardware you might get a solution to this. i had a leg strap that had a tendancy to slip, when it was eventually brought to my attention i noticed the teeth on the hard ware was worn away to nothing and had to be immediatley replaced.

have you disassembled the MLW friction adapters ever for some reason? If not, and you know they are correctly assembled, I recommend loosening them up and cleaning the hardware on ALL SIDES with some alcohol to wipe off any oils that might have accumulated. My legstraps used to slip a lot when I was jumping in Arizona and I had to really stay on top of it and keep them clean.

If your hardware is an MS22040 friction adapter and your webbing has a yellow trace along the edge then they are incompatable and will slip no matter what you do. The yellow trace webbing is Mil W-4088 Type VII has been studied, by Bordoin Forge, for slippage, in hardware used on personel harnesses. They all slipped. This is the reason the military requires, and some manufactuers use, Mil W-4088 Type XIII harness webbing, which has a black trace along each edge. It was designed speciffically for use with the hardware used on personel harnesses (a hold over from cotton harnesses) and doesn't slip.

Thanks- will have a look in a few days I'm not using the rig at the mo.

For the other posts above- I have tried all (including contacting UPT) except for cleaning the hard wear and will try that next. I had riggers look at it with no result. I put waxthread through the webbing (sent pic to UPT and they said OK) but don't think that is a good solution really longterm.

I did not put the webbing wrong through the hard wear!

To the person who ask who I am- PM me and I can let you know, but cant see why that matters...

I have exerienced this problem with the sigma harness and stainless 2 piece hardware a number of times and it seems the simplest fix is to ensure your elastic webbing keepers are tight on the harness and secure against the hardware. In addition ensuring the excess leading down the main lift web towards the leg strap junction is secured by the same tight elasic keepers. Since ensuring the keepers are in place, I haven't experienced this problem. Good luck, its very unnerving feeling the harness loosen up during the opening wiggle. By the way, cleaning and checking the hardware geometry isn't a bad idea either. Cheers

As far as the washing in warm water goes, I have seen a case where a drink (Mountain Dew) was spilled on a leg strap. When that dried, the fabric became very slick and slipped badly. Washing in Woolite and warm water cured that problem. That doesn't seem to be the problem here.

This one is much better. I can't really tell from the picture, but it looks like the buffer going around the thin piece of the adapter is too short. When you put loading on the MLW, the small piece should be able to move forward to lock the webbing in place. If the buffer is too short, this forward movement will not be possible .

Then again, it's just a picture and it's hard to tell how exactly the buffer is routed.

A light application of beeswax on the webbing may help. I have a friend that used this on his Vector III and it helped. Going to try it on my Wings with Type IIV silver with parachutes de france stainless adapters. My silver harness slips but, my black harness does not...

I can't really tell from the picture, but it looks like the buffer going around the thin piece of the adapter is too short.

As a certified old guy, your eyes are probably better than mine but it looks as though there is a piece of T-12 going around the large piece that is secured close. Then the piece of T-12 going around both pieces seems to be loose enough that the smaller piece can move and do its 'clamping' of the webbing.

As a certified old guy, your eyes are probably better than mine but it looks as though there is a piece of T-12 going around the large piece that is secured close. Then the piece of T-12 going around both pieces seems to be loose enough that the smaller piece can move and do its 'clamping' of the webbing.

Based upon what I understand, it is correct. I have some of this hardware that I bought just to play around with.

And I readily admit that I may be wrong on this. This hardware is rather new to me; I may use some of it or I may not.

Attached is a photo of a mockup that I made to see how things would look, fit, etc. In this mockup, the upper portion of the 'harness' and the adjustable portion of the 'harness" are Type 8; just to hold things together and to study them. Also, there is only one piece of Type 12. This piece of Type 12 has both ends sewn/captured into the upper portion, the non-moveable part of a typical harness. It comes down & goes under the backside of the upper bar of the larger piece, then goes completely around the upper bar of the smaller (clamping) piece, and then goes back up, again under the backside of the upper bar of the larger piece.

Does this make sense to you?

I wish the photo were larger and more definitive but it is what it is.

This hardware is marked: CWH 11

In my latest issue of the ParaGear catalog it is listed as Item #HSP888.

I might be wrong on this it was just a tought, but i thought the "Thick" part should have been the other way around to stop it moving and slipping around. when i get home form work i have to look at my own rig as i have the same hardware i believe. Still cant really see why the MLW would still slip.